That damn smile. You remember that damn smile. Even if it's not what it once was, there's no way you could forget. How could you? When your eyes locked, a derisive smile spreading over his face as you watched, flames dancing around him and everything you ever grew to know. How could you forget? You couldn't.

And yet, it's there. It's not leering, or confident like it was, but it's in front of you. You've had dreams of that smile. Dreams where you'd stick a blade into it's host, blood drenching your hand as the smile warped, screaming. You've had nightmares of that smile. Nightmares of everyone you ever knew, warped mutations of your tribe, your people, asking why you just sat there and *watched*. Why you didn't attempt to save them. Why you didn't die with them. And that damn smile. Every time.

That smile, after stealing everything from you, almost sent you hurling to the depths of hell more than once. And that same smile, after stealing everything from you became the very fuel that forced you to continue going. Years. Years. You can't even remember how long it was, as you watched, that damn smile as countless fell at it's feet. That damn smile, as the flames licked his skin, burning everything around you as it burnt itself into your memory.

This isn't the smile you remember, though. The man infront of you is a pathetic, shrivelled mess. He came to trade useless wares concealed within his coat. He didn't recognise me, that smile probably didn't even remember me. You grabbed the hilt of your blade and pointed it at him.

"Wha-" he spluttered, as he finally looked into your eyes for the first time in years. As he gazes into eons of hatred buried in the black of your eyes, you stare back, and watch as the smile disappears.

The man before you drops to the ground, tears flooding down his face. His speech is an incoherent mess. This isn't the smile you remember. And yet. You press the sword to his throat. He deserves this, you deserve this.

But you remove your blade. This isn't the enemy of your nightmares. This withered, helpless mess. This isn't the smile you remember.

"Leave, and never come back," you utter, voice a whisper shrieking through the clearing. The old, withered man scrambles back and flees.